- US Senate again refuses to do job on Iran war
Source: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
“Despite rising political anxiety over the Iran war, senators on Thursday narrowly rejected a war powers resolution seeking to halt President Donald Trump’s military action, which has been largely blamed for the spike in gas prices and become a flashpoint in the midterm election. The Senate tally, 49-50, coming days after Trump’s bombastic address to the United Nations in which he threatened to ‘annihilate’ Iran, was likely the last chance for lawmakers to go on record about the war ahead of November. … This was the 14th time the Senate has considered a war powers resolution since Trump launched the conflict on Feb. 28.” (09/25/26)
https://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2026/sep/25/senate-again-rejects-war-powers-resolution/
- International fugitive whines at UN after mass walkout
Source: New York Times
“Fighting for his political life back home, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel gave a pugnacious address at the United Nations General Assembly on Thursday, casting his nation as falsely accused of genocide and his people as indomitable fighters against terrorism and antisemitism. At times pounding the lectern and raising his voice, Mr. Netanyahu took aim at Israel’s military enemies like Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and their allied forces in Yemen and Iraq. But he also assailed Mayor Zohran Mamdani of New York City, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey and Western European leaders he said had ‘chosen to succumb to the antisemitic mob.’ As the Israeli leader took the podium, many of the international diplomats filed out of the hall, as they have in the past, but his speech seemed tuned far more to a domestic audience than an international one.” (09/24/26)
- NJ: Sherrill calls on lieutenant governor to resign over ethics report
Source: NBC News
“New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill said Thursday evening that she gave Lt. Gov. Dale Caldwell ‘until tomorrow’ to resign after an investigation found he had violated state ethics and harassment policy. … The state said this month that it had hired a law firm to investigate allegations against Caldwell, a Democrat who was elected on the ticket with Sherrill last year, claiming that he had behaved inappropriately toward women. … Sherrill said Caldwell’s ‘ethical lapses persisted despite multiple warnings and trainings.’ … Lawyers for Caldwell, who has denied the allegations, said in a statement Thursday night that they ‘strongly disputed the three findings in the investigation,’ as its conclusions ‘go further than the evidence supports.'” (09/24/26)
- US jobless claims fall to 197,000, lowest since July
Source: Siasat Daily [India]
“Fewer people applied for US unemployment benefits last week, as US jobless claims remain at historically low levels as most Americans enjoy job security. The Labour Department said Thursday, September 24, that 197,000 applied for unemployment checks last week, the fewest since mid-July and down from a revised 198,000 the week before. The four-week average of claims, which smooths out week-to-week ups and downs, fell to 202,250 last week from 204,000. Claims for jobless benefits are a proxy for layoffs, and economists watch them because they can be a sign of where the job market is headed. So far this year, claims have mostly stayed below 220,000 — historically low.” (09/24/26)
https://www.siasat.com/us-jobless-claims-fall-to-197000-lowest-since-july-3547690/
- Russia: Krasnodar governor declares state of emergency as drone attacks slow grain exports
Source: Yahoo! News
“The governor of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region, a major agricultural producer, has declared a state of emergency over Ukrainian drone attacks that have inhibited the export of grain, a move which allows those affected to receive compensation. Both Russia and Ukraine have stepped up attacks on the other side’s grain vessels in the Black Sea in recent months, sending global prices higher. Regional Governor Veniamin Kondratyev, announcing the state of emergency on Wednesday, said that ‘massive attacks’ on logistics infrastructure had caused the suspension of port operations and disruptions to shipping in the Black Sea, the Interfax news agency reported on Thursday. Agricultural producers, he said, were unable to sell much of their yields, leading to an oversupply on the domestic grain market.” (09/24/26)
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/russias-krasnodar-region-declares-state-121937462.html
- Starbucks to shutter 250 locations in North America
Source: United Press International
“Starbucks announced it will close about 250 underperforming stores in North America, about 1% of its 18,000 locations. The announcement, revealed in a letter to employees from chief operating officer Mike Grams, heralds the second major wave of Starbucks closures since Brian Niccol became CEO two years ago. … The locations to be closed have not yet been specified by the company, but a regulatory filing from the company indicates most of the stores will be shuttered before the end of fiscal 2026.” (09/24/26)
- Report: Hitler’s possible role in niece’s death under scrutiny after documents raise questions about alibi
Source: CBS News
“Newly unearthed records in a Munich archive have cast doubt on Adolf Hitler’s whereabouts at the time of his niece’s suspicious 1931 death, according to news magazine Der Spiegel. Hitler’s unusually close and controlling relationship with his niece, Geli Raubal, has long been the subject of speculation and rumor, and newspaper reports at the time suggested that Hitler may have played a role in her death. Raubal died from a gunshot wound to the chest from a pistol belonging to Hitler, in what was officially determined to be a suicide. Hitler … was away in the city of Nuremberg that day, giving him what appeared to be a strong alibi. But according to an article in Der Spiegel, historian Harald Sandner recently discovered documents in archives in Munich casting doubt on that account — and raising questions about whether Nazi sympathizers in the police may have falsified records to protect Hitler.” (09/24/26)
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/hitler-role-niece-death-new-documents-questions-alibi-report/
- US Appeals Court Reinstates Ohio Law Requiring Voters to Prove Citizenship
Source: US News & World Report
“A US appeals court has for now reinstated an Ohio law requiring residents to present documentary proof of citizenship when registering to vote at the state’s motor vehicle offices, in a boost for allies of President Donald Trump who want tighter voter registration rules. The 2-1 decision late on Wednesday by the Cincinnati-based 6th US Circuit Court of Appeals to pause a lower court ruling blocking the law was a win for Ohio’s Republican government ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.” (09/24/26)
- Germany: 105-year-old investigated for crimes at Nazi POW camp
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“German prosecutors are investigating a man aged 105 over allegations that he was an accessory to multiple counts of murder at a Nazi prisoner of war camp in World War Two. The suspect is alleged to have been a camp guard at Stalag 326 VI K in Senne in northwestern Germany. A similar case had also been under way involving a second former camp guard at Senne, Dortmund public prosecutor Sonja Frodermann said in a statement. That suspect died a few months ago at the age of 99, she said. No further details about the two former guards have been made public, however the two cases highlight the difficulties faced by prosecutors who continue to investigate Nazi-era crimes, with most of the remaining suspects already dead.” (09/24/26)
- Global debt tops $365 trillion as economists sound alarm over ‘vicious cycle’
Source: CNBC
“Ever-higher costs to service mounting debt loads pose a major risk to governments around the world, economists have warned. Global debt rose by $10 trillion in the first half of the year to top $365 trillion, according to research published by the Institute of International Finance on Wednesday. State debts are rising as yields on medium- and long-term government bonds issued by a slew of the world’s biggest economies hit their highest levels in more than a decade — including in the U.S., Japan, France and the U.K. … The Washington-based group found that advanced economies paid over $3.3 trillion in interest on internationally traded government bonds last year, more than global spending on AI ($2.6 trillion), defense ($3.1 trillion), or clean energy ($2.3 trillion).” [editor’s note: From the article it’s not clear whether that “global debt” includes everyone’s assorted debts, or just the money borrowed by politicians – TLK] (09/24/26)
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/09/24/global-debt-bond-yields-inflation.html
- Canada: Carney says he has considered possibility of US military action
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has considered the remote possibility of US military action against Canada, according to an interview with The New York Times. Carney told the Times that his administration has carefully examined the ‘extreme tail risk’ scenario where the US takes military action against his country, and had prepared accordingly, without providing further detail. ‘I think you have a responsibility in these roles to look at extreme tail risk,’ Carney told the Times. ‘That’s just risk management. That’s not a base case, but it would be irresponsible not to’ prepare. Any conflict would likely be highly imbalanced. The US military has more than 2 million active-duty and reserve troops, while Canada has less than 200,000, according to their governments. Similarly, as of 2024, the US possessed 65 military submarines, compared to Canada’s four.” (09/24/26)
- US Navy says eight sailors attempted suicide aboard carrier during prolonged West Asia deployment
Source: mint [India]
“The US Navy has disclosed that eight sailors assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln carrier strike group attempted suicide during its prolonged deployment, The Hill reported. Acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao made the disclosure in a letter to Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat and member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, after she sought information about the well-being of sailors aboard the carrier and accompanying vessels. The revelation comes after families of sailors raised concerns about deteriorating mental health and difficult living conditions during the carrier strike group’s lengthy deployment in West Asia amid the US war with Iran.” (09/24/26)
- Poland: Regime Suspects Fire at Starlink Station Was Act of Sabotage
Source: US News & World Report
“A fire broke out on Wednesday evening at a ground-based Starlink satellite communications station in central Poland providing connectivity for the region, including Ukraine, Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski said, adding the systems were now operational. Poland has been on heightened alert for acts of sabotage since Russia’s invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022. Russia has repeatedly denied any such action.” (09/24/26)
- FBI investigating claim hackers have stolen details of all its agents
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“The FBI is investigating a claim by a cyber-crime group that it has stolen sensitive information on all bureau staff – around 38,000 people. The group, Shiny Hunters, says it has every agent’s name, role, badge number and personal details including home address, phone numbers and spouse information. Professor Ciaran Martin, the former head of the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre, said – if confirmed – it was ‘as serious as it gets when it comes to data breaches.’ In a statement posted on X, the FBI said it was aware of the claim and the agency was ‘actively and aggressively investigating the matter’. The criminals claim to have breached the FBI’s servers on Monday night and began contacting reporters on Tuesday sharing samples and screenshots of the stolen data.” (09/24/26)
- ID: “Unknown Wanderer” May Be Linked to 1982 Tylenol Murders
Source: Newser
“The man once known only as the ‘Unknown Wanderer’ in Boise now has a name—and a curious tie to one of the country’s most infamous unsolved crimes, CBS News reports. Idaho investigators say the man found dead by cyanide in a Boise church in December 1982 has been identified via DNA as Dr. Mathew Francis Betkouski, a chemist with a long-standing obsession with poisons. While authorities aren’t formally tying him to Chicago’s 1982 ‘Tylenol Murders,’ in which seven people were killed by cyanide-laced Tylenol, investigators have revealed evidence that appears to possibly link him to the cold case. He had a history of working in drugstores, and colleagues recalled him having a fascination with carrying out the ‘perfect crime,’ the AP reports.” (09/24/26)
https://www.newser.com/story/396962/unknown-wanderer-may-be-linked-to-1982-tylenol-murders.html
- Oxford English Dictionary adds several words long used in the Caribbean and Bermuda
Source: SFGate
“More than a dozen words long used in Bermuda and across the Caribbean got an official nod on Wednesday from the Oxford English Dictionary. First in line is ‘bimpert’, a Bermudian word of unknown origin that is used to describe a stupid or foolish person. People on the tiny island in the north Atlantic often use it in this traditional phrase: ‘A bimpert is justah wuffless bye’, which roughly translates to: an idiot is just a worthless boy. Another colorful addition is ‘hornerman’, a word used in the eastern Caribbean island of Trinidad and Tobago since 1975 to describe an unfaithful man or a man having a relationship with someone else’s partner.” (09/23/26)
- Australia: Regime says OpenAI agent hacked website, checks for more breaches
Source: Yahoo! Finance
“Australia said on Thursday an OpenAI agent breached a government health data portal in June, gaining unauthorised access to files, in what could be the first known instance of an AI agent hacking a government website. The breach is one of the highest-profile incidents of AI agents accessing external systems outside the United States, coming on top of several recent breaches globally by rogue AI agents that have alarmed governments and companies. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the OpenAI agent gained unauthorised access to the medical statistics portal of Medicare, Australia’s universal health insurance programme, while conducting research on public medical spending.” (09/24/26)
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/australia-pm-albanese-says-openai-204422718.html
- Researchers find elephants use medicinal plants to treat themselves
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“African elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families when they are sick. This is the conclusion of a study which interviewed people who live and work alongside the elephants in the Mount Elgon region of Kenya. These particular animals have long intrigued scientists with their extraordinary behaviour – they are known as salt-mining elephants, because they go into caves and scrape the rock with their tusks to extract minerals for their diet. This newly published research suggests that the same elephants use several different plant species in the forest for medicinal purposes.” (09/24/26)
- IL: Johnson proposes 12-month moratorium on new data centers in Chicago
Source: Axios
“Chicago could halt new data center development within city limits for a year. … Mayor Brandon Johnson, along with a group of alders, is pushing for a 12-month moratorium while the city develops a ‘comprehensive regulatory framework’ for data centers. There are 39 active data centers in Chicago, according to the city. … At least a half-dozen major U.S. cities, including Seattle, Charlotte, Baltimore, Cincinnati, Cleveland and Oklahoma City, have temporarily halted or restricted new data center development while considering new regulations.” (09/23/26)
- Italy: Regime approves limits on non-Italian speakers and veils in school classrooms
Source: SFGate
“Italy’s government passed a decree Thursday to place an upper limit on the number of students in each school classroom who have only limited Italian language skills and to ban face-covering Islamic veils in schools. Premier Giorgia Meloni’s conservative government said the package is aimed at strengthening integration through language learning and has drawn support from right-wing allies. Opponents including some educators, unions and opposition parties warn that new rules could force students to attend schools far from their neighborhoods, while critics accuse the government of turning immigration into a political issue. With elections possible as early as next spring, analysts say the measures allow the premier to reassert her credentials on issues central to her conservative base, even though their impact is likely to be limited and significant questions remain about how they would be enforced.” (09/24/26)
- Assimilation Is No Solution If Success Is the Problem
Source: Gideon’s Substack
by Noah Millman“How could anyone possibly object to this image? You want immigrants to work hard and play by the rules? These guys managed to get into the flagship campus of the University of Texas. You want them to assimilate to American culture? These guys are all wearing their school colors, roaring their excitement at their football team’s amazing victory. Several are wearing cowboy hats. If you asked an A.I. for an image that would reinforce the view that South Asian immigration is nothing to worry about, this would be the image it would create. Yet this is the image Bo French used to argue that ‘the problem is now obviously far worse than anyone imagined,’ said problem being ‘Americans’ being displaced by ‘foreigners.'” (09/24/26)
https://gideons.substack.com/p/assimilation-is-no-solution-if-success
- The Slippery Constitutionality of Open Primaries
Source: Law & Liberty
by Robert G Natelson“Since the early days of the American Republic, political parties have been vehicles through which people of modest means can participate effectively in politics. Like churches, families, associations, and corporations, parties are mediating organizations between the individual and government. And like other mediating organizations, parties have come under fierce attack from the left. One form of attack has been promotion of state election laws allowing non-party members to vote for party nominees. But on June 30, the Supreme Court issued a case that brought it one step closer to ruling that such laws violate the Constitution’s First Amendment, as incorporated against the states by the Fourteenth.” (09/24/26)
https://lawliberty.org/the-slippery-constitutionality-of-open-primaries/
- “Blue Wave” or Not, Expect Business as Usual After the Midterms
Source: Garrison Center
by Thomas L Knapp“All year we’ve heard predictions of a ‘blue wave’ in the midterms, with Democrats taking majorities in both houses of Congress. As of this writing, most forecasts I’ve consulted say that there’s a good chance of a Democratic House come January, but that the Republicans will likely hang on to the Senate. My own forecast is ‘don’t get your hopes up for substantial change no matter how the midterms turn out.’ That’s just not how American government works. Or at least that’s not how American government USUALLY works.” (09/24/26)
- Insult a cop or city employee in Montreal? Prepare to pay up.
Source: Expression
by Sarah McLaughlin“What, exactly, counts as an insult? For Montrealers, this is not just a hypothetical question about the limits of civility and good taste. In Canada’s second-most populous metropolis, the city council just banned insults to municipal employees — police officers included — and offending parties could now pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars for saying the wrong thing to the wrong city worker. If that wasn’t bad enough, the new rules don’t even bother to define what is an ‘insult’ or what speech is ‘offensive.'” (09/24/26)
https://expression.fire.org/p/insult-a-cop-or-city-employee-in
- The DSA’s Extreme Platform Is Bad for Liberalism and Democrats
Source: The UnPopulist
by Matt Johnson“Democrats often complain about infighting on the left and argue the party must widen its tent, but figures like Chevalier and organizations like the DSA actually shrink it: they turn off mainstream voters, undermine the anti-Trump coalition’s claim to uphold liberal values, and shift the conversation away from Trump’s disastrous approval ratings toward a movement that legitimately strikes many Americans as weird and menacing. The Democratic Party is the anti-Trump coalition’s single largest vehicle for beating Trump, and handing MAGA ammunition against it is a huge mistake.” (09/24/26)
https://www.theunpopulist.net/p/the-dsas-extreme-platform-is-bad
- IRS went after honest landowners; time to end this tax nightmare
Source: Fox News
by Stephen Moore“The IRS recently did something federal agencies almost never do: admit their approach wasn’t working. They conceded that the approach to the Conservation Easement program tax assessments is flawed and often unfair. In a press release last month, the IRS rightly stopped its assault — at least for now — on more than a thousand separate groups nationwide, comprised of about 250,000 individuals, who have participated in land conservation easements. The agency decided to withdraw its own arbitrary deadlines under its punitive settlement initiative for these donations that taxpayers, relying on qualified appraisals and professional advice, believed complied with federal law. This longstanding program provides tax incentives for people who have put hundreds of thousands of acres of pristine forest, ranch, and farmland into a ‘conservation easement’ — preventing it from ever being developed.” (09/23/26)
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/steve-moore-irs-honest-landowners-time-end-tax-nightmare
- Half the Public Wants To Pause AI. Would Regulation Actually Make It Safer?
Source: Reason
by Reem Ibrahim“When Altman and other AI leaders ask for government intervention, the possibility of regulatory capture cannot be dismissed. The companies calling most loudly for AI regulation are also among those best equipped to comply with it. Licensing regimes, mandatory audits, reporting requirements, and expensive safety standards impose fixed costs that established firms such as OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google can absorb more easily than smaller competitors. Altman has urged Congress to consider licensing or registration requirements. That does not mean industry warnings about AI risk are disingenuous, but advocating for regulation does allow these executives to present themselves as responsible stewards of a dangerous technology while also supporting rules that could simultaneously raise barriers to entry and entrench their position in the market.” (09/24/26)
- Corporate Welfare Is Britain’s Blind Spot
Source: Foundation for Economic Education
by Alan Hibben“Britain’s political class loves to talk about ‘reforming welfare,’ but everyone knows the limits of that ambition. Voter Welfare—the £333.7 billion the state is forecast to transfer from taxpayers to households in 2025–26—is politically untouchable. A population brought up on free cake is unlikely to vote for the plate being removed, at least until it stares a debt tragedy square in the face. But there is another kind of welfare that receives far less attention and may actually be fixable: Rent-Seeking Welfare, or what is more bluntly called corporate welfare elsewhere. Unlike pensioners, corporations don’t vote—and British households don’t own many shares directly. In theory, this should make reform easier. In practice, the obstacle is not ideology but something more basic: the Government cannot see what it is trying to reform.” (09/24/26)
https://fee.org/articles/corporate-welfare-is-britains-blind-spot/
- Apologies to Caligula: Trump Is Out of His Goddamn Mind
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
by Will Bunch“I feel like I need to apologize for a column a couple of months ago when I compared the current president of the United States to Caligula, the possibly mad Roman emperor who is said to have nominated his trusted horse for high office. I need to apologize to Caligula. From pitching his triumphal D.C. arch as a storage shed for deadly snipers’ bullets to banning reporters from the White House in a narcissistic rage, Donald Trump is losing his grip on reality. This is unsustainable. Worried about AI killing humans? Bad news: It already is. Which is it? Are the robots of AI, or artificial intelligence, so smart that they’re on the verge of holding a secret meetup in the darkest corner of the dark web and developing a plot to kill all humans through germ warfare, to make sure we don’t kill them first by pulling the plug?” (09/24/26)
- Mercy, mercy – Canadian-style?
Source: The Price of Liberty
by Nathan Bardon“Does a human being have a right to kill themselves? Yes, they do: we believe at TPOL that this is inherent in free will as we were created by God. (It does not make it good (right) to kill yourself, any more than many other things we have the power to do are not good or right. The entire idea of ‘assisted suicide’ is both a gray area and seems to often lead into euthanasia.” (09/24/26)
https://thepriceofliberty.org/2026/09/24/mercy-mercy-canadian-style/
- Yes, There’s Reason for Concern Around Artificial Intelligence
Source: Exiled Policy
by Jason Pye“We need to be objective about the risks of superintelligent AI.” (09/24/26)
https://exiledpolicy.substack.com/p/yes-theres-reason-for-concern-around
- The enemy within the judicial gates
Source: The Hill
by Andrew Gould“Chief Justice John Roberts famously identified violence, intimidation, disinformation, and defying lawfully entered judgements as four areas encroaching on the independence of judges. Now there’s a fifth: calculated infiltration of the judicial system to influence case outcomes.” (09/24/26)
https://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/6105662-the-enemy-within-the-judicial-gates/
- Roughly 60 Percent of Polled Democrats Would Support a Military Coup
Source: Jonathan Turley
by Jonathan Turley“It appears that nothing says ‘saving Democracy’ like a good old-fashioned military coup. A new survey from the Center for Strategic Politics found that 59 percent of Democrats would favor a military coup to remove President Donald Trump from office. All it took was four years out of power for these Democratic voters to embrace a coup d’état to negate the results of the last election. What is particularly chilling is that many of these voters still portray themselves as defending democracy by calling for a military takeover. It is akin to supporting drive-by shootings to combat gun violence. That is not the only shocker in this survey. According to the Center, roughly six in 10 (59%) Democrats polled said they would feel ‘very positive’ or ‘somewhat positive’ if the US military removed Trump and seized control of the American government.” (09/24/26)
- Knowing Xi
Source: Common Sense
by Paul Jacob“Chinese ruler Xi Jinping landed in Washington, DC, yesterday, to meet with President Donald Trump.
‘If you know the enemy and know yourself,’ Sun Tzu wrote in The Art of War, ‘you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.’ I pray President Trump understands this foe: Mr. Xi, and more generally, the Chinese Communist Party … enemies to all freedom-loving people across the globe. China is engaged in the largest military build-up since World War II, if not of all time. It is a threat on the march.” (09/24/26) - Could Trump Become the Worst War Criminal in History?
Source: Common Dreams
by Connie Peck“In a highly aggressive 40-minute speech to the United Nations General Assembly on September 22, President Donald Trump once again issued ominous threats to Iran, saying: ‘I have a very big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill or destroy people or countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?’ He implied that his ‘very big decision’ would come after the midterms, suggesting that Iran is waiting to make a deal until then and, if one isn’t forthcoming, then he would choose annihilation.” (09/24/26)
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/trump-worst-war-criminal
- Inflation: Africa’s Tax Without a Tax Bill
Source: Ludwig von Mises Institute
by Oluwaseun Adeoye Oyebamiji“The most accessible measure of inflation in most African states, especially in Nigeria, is not a bulletin but a chalkboard. In markets across the country, sellers write prices in chalk rather than paint, because paint assumes tomorrow will resemble today. A trader repricing her stock weekly is not being opportunistic. She is doing arithmetic the currency forces on her. Inflation is usually discussed here as a cost-of-living problem, which it is, and rarely as an information problem, which it also is. A price is how an economy signals what is scarce. When the general price level moves quickly and unevenly, that signal becomes unreadable. A manufacturer cannot tell whether his input costs rose because the material became scarcer, in which case he should substitute, or because money lost value, in which case he should not.” (09/24/26)
https://mises.org/power-market/inflation-africas-tax-without-tax-bill
- Force the CIA to Disclose Its Chile Records
Sourc: Future of Freedom Foundation
by Jacob G Hornberger“For some odd reason, the CIA steadfastly refuses to disclose all of its records relating to the 1973 Chilean coup, which the CIA ardently supported. The CIA says that ‘national security’ will be jeopardized if its records are disclosed to the American people. That’s ridiculous. What do they think will happen — that the United States will fall into the ocean or be taken over by the communists, the terrorists, the Muslims, or some other scary boogeyman? The disclosure issue is more relevant than ever, given that September 21 was the 50th anniversary of the assassination of Orlando Letelier and his assistant Ronni Moffitt on the streets of Washington, D.C.” (09/24/260
https://www.fff.org/2026/09/24/force-the-cia-to-disclose-its-chile-records/
- A Diesel Export Ban Would Ride Home on Every Container Ship
Source: The Erick Erickson Show
by Erick-Woods Erickson“Last year, the coffee beans I buy from Rev Coffee in Smyrna,m GA (the best!!!!) went from about $90 to $160 for a five pound bag of whole beans from Costa Rica. Nothing about the beans changed. President Trump chose to impose tariffs. When President Trump pulled the tariff off coffee, the price went back down, though not all the way down. I think about that bag of coffee every time Washington decides it can repeal the laws of economics. Some people are whispering in the President’s ear to get him to try again. Diesel is averaging a record $6.53 a gallon. This week, the President said, ‘Let’s not send out the diesel’ …. I understand the impulse. Farmers and truckers are getting hammered, and the midterms are six weeks away. It would still be a mistake, and the people who would pay for it are the people it is supposed to help.” (09/24/26)
https://ewerickson.substack.com/p/a-diesel-export-ban-would-ride-home
- Trump’s crafty “Commie Week” diplomacy with Mamdani and Xi
Source: New York Post
by Miranda Devine“First it was New York’s unlovely Mayor Mamdani Trump did the great honor of visiting at Gracie Mansion on Monday. Then on Wednesday the president rolled out the literal red carpet for another Communist dictator, President Xi Jinping of China. Donald Trump and the first lady warmly greeted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, when they alighted from their plane at Joint Base Andrews and strolled together companionably down the red carpet as a 21-gun salute sounded, followed by the national anthems of both nations. … Despite Trump’s elaborate courtesies toward Xi, he clearly has no illusions about China’s mal-intent as it seeks to dislodge America’s geopolitical primacy.” (09/24/26)
- Time to Retire Slurs
Source: Brownstone Institute
by Alan Cassels“Galileo got called a heretic for suggesting that the Earth wasn’t the center of the universe. Semmelweis was treated like a madman for insisting that doctors wash their hands before attending births. Researchers Barry Marshall and Robin Warren said that the bacterium Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) causes most cases of gastritis and peptic ulcers and people thought they were nutjobs. Those nutjobs eventually revolutionized gastroenterology and won a Nobel Prize in Medicine. In each case, the problem wasn’t the science; it was the people defending consensus like it was holy Scripture, punishing anyone who dared question it. Fast forward to today: the same instinct survives, repackaged in social media posts, think pieces, and snarky tweets.” (09/24/26)
- The UN Is Almost As Useless As Democrats Are
Source: Town Hall
by Derek Hunter“The ‘President’ of Iran spoke at the United Nations General Assembly this week, and I remember thinking to myself, ‘Now would be a pretty good time for an air raid.’ I’m joking, of course, at least mostly. But it is a testament to the worthlessness of the United Nations that a bunch of world leaders who oppress and murder large chunks of their population get to saunter onto some very expensive real estate and complain, without consequence, about the country hosting them. Honestly, if there had been an air raid that leveled that ugly building on the East River, would you miss it? The obvious answer is no, you would not. Rather than bomb it, however, the United States should simply treat it the way the rest of the world does: don’t pay for it, don’t waste our time with it, and mostly involve ourselves as the country that vetoes everything bad.” (09/24/26)
- King Trump’s Press Ban
Source: The Next Move
by Garry Kasparov“In 1776, agents of the Crown could raid a newspaper’s offices for publishing critical commentary about the royal regime. The Stamp Act was imposed to smother America’s nascent free press in the cradle. Authorities in London charged publishers sympathetic to the rebels under Britain’s seditious libel laws. Perhaps the jilted King George can find some relief from beyond the grave. Two and a half centuries after the American Revolution, the colonists—one colonist in particular—are finally coming home to the monarchical tradition.” (09/24/26)
- Another Summit, Same Limits: What to Expect from Trump and Xi in Washington
Source: Libertarian Institute
by Joseph Solis-Mullen“When President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met in Beijing this past May, the outcome was largely as anticipated: ceremonial pomp, a handful of commercial commitments, rhetorical emphasis on ‘stability,’ and little progress on the structural frictions that actually define the relationship. Trump invited Xi for a reciprocal state visit, and that visit is now underway. Xi arrived in the Washington area on Wednesday evening for a tightly choreographed program of White House ceremonies, closed-door talks, a state dinner, and a brief National Archives tour before departing Friday. The script remains familiar. The underlying reality is unchanged.” (09/24/26)
- Data Centers and the Liberal State
Source: Law & Liberty
by John O McGinnis“Politics without limits is not the answer to discontent over the technological revolution.” (09/24/26)
- Tariff Exemptions are Big Business for Big Business
Source: The Daily Economy
by David Hebert“A tariff may look like a uniform tax. In practice, exemptions give politically connected firms an advantage.” (09/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/tariff-exemptions-are-big-business-for-big-business/
- The $46 Trillion Price of Avoiding Social Security Reform
Source: The Daily Economy
by Romina Boccia“Delaying Social Security reform would spare politicians difficult choices today while leaving taxpayers with a much larger bill tomorrow.” (09/24/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/the-46-trillion-price-of-avoiding-social-security-reform/
- Desperate Republicans are jumping Trump’s Iran war ship
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Jack Hunter‘Candidates in tight midterm races are trying to distance themselves from the president and his Middle East mess, citing — you guessed it — the economy.” (09/24/26)
- Judges Reject ICE Attempt to Maintain Third-Country Removals
Source: The American Prospect
by Gillian Brockell“A Peruvian man threatened with removal to the Central African Republic is safe for now after an appeals court reiterated late Wednesday night that its decision last week overturning the Trump administration’s third-country removal policy was effective immediately. But hours after that decision came down, flight data shows an ICE charter jet landed in two known third-country removal ‘host’ countries in Africa, while another appeared to be heading toward the continent, raising the possibility that other immigrants may have been or are about to be removed unlawfully. The Peruvian man, identified in court filings as ‘John Doe,’ has judicial protections from deportation to Peru and has been held in ICE custody in Massachusetts since July, one of his attorneys previously told the Prospect.” (09/24/26)
- Media ban, flying furries: GOP’s midterm messaging is a mess
Source: USA Today
by Rex Huppke“In America right now, the people are shouting, ‘Gas prices! Food prices! Health care costs!’ And the Republican Party, six weeks out from the midterm elections, is responding: ‘What’s that? You want us to fight with the media? Or how about we get mad about this issue nobody has ever heard of because it’s something we made up?’ It’s as if the words ‘read the room’ never entered the GOP’s lexicon.” (09/24/26)
- The President’s Irresponsible Power
Source: The American Conservative
by Doug Bandow“If Trump wants the credit, he must also take the blame.” (09/24/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/the-presidents-irresponsible-power/
- Trump’s lost his star power, at home and abroad
Source: Los Angeles Times
by Jackie Calmes“President Trump might not look smaller, but he is. At home and abroad, among a significant majority of Americans that includes increasing numbers of Republicans, as well as in the eyes of foreign leaders, the president of the United States is shrinking by the day into a hapless peacock, a cartoon figure posting comic word balloons at all hours on the falsely labeled Truth Social network or bloviating for the (fewer and fewer) cameras by day. Consider Trump’s losses and humiliations just over the past week …” (09/24/26)
- A light of learning glows in Gaza
Source: Christian Science Monitor
by staff“This week, thousands of excited children in Gaza took part in a ritual seen as normal in much of the world: going back to school. Instead of being in classrooms with whiteboards and desks, however, most sat on the floor in makeshift structures or tents. School supplies were scarce and costly. Teachers were few. Nearly three years of a war between Hamas and Israel have devastated most school buildings and staff. Nevertheless, to many in Gaza, the fact that the schools even opened was testament to every child’s desire to be inspired, curious, and skilled for a life of progress. An estimated 540,000 children – the most since the war began – returned to in-person schooling. Working together, Gaza’s residents and international aid agencies upheld the ideal of maintaining a decent life for children, in part because they are the most innocent in any war.” (09/23/26)
https://www.csmonitor.com/Editorials/the-monitors-view/2026/0923/A-light-of-learning-glows-in-Gaza
- The Unitary Executive Theory in All of Its Historical Perversity
Source: Washington Monthly
by Jack Rakove“Among the many theories of constitutional interpretation that swirl through American politics, the Unitary Executive Theory (UET) is the most important one circulating today. … To be taken seriously—in an era when the original meaning of the Constitution is the ostensible lodestar of interpretation—a theory of executive power this robust should be strongly grounded in historical sources. In fact, the advocates of the UET presume what they need to prove: that the adopters of the Constitution held a coherent and consensual view of presidential power that could be stretched so far. The more closely one surveys this historical foundation, the more tenuous the theory becomes.” (09/24/26)
https://washingtonmonthly.com/2026/09/24/unitary-executive-theory-history/
- The pope tried to ban prediction markets in 1591. It didn’t go well.
Source: Washington Post
by Ryan Chan-Wei“The betting exchanges provide public intelligence. Suppressing them is a policy mistake.” (09/24/26)
- Never Forget Federal Marijuana Frauds
Source: JimBovard.com
by James Bovard“For more than 50 years, the federal government shamelessly pretended that marijuana had no recognized medical use. Last December 18, President Trump signed an executive order entitled, ‘Increasing Medical Marijuana and Cannabidiol Research.’ Trump ordered the Attorney General and the Drug Enforcement Administration to speed up rule-making to finally enable far more medical research on the benefits of marijuana. … Of course, libertarians want to see all federal restrictions on marijuana abolished. The nearly 100-year federal war on the loco weed has been a disgrace and a failure from the start. But the long history of federal persecution of marijuana users, researchers, and growers provides a high-potency kick on the perils of federal intervention to purportedly protect Americans’ health.” (09/23/26)
https://jimbovard.com/blog/2026/09/23/never-forget-federal-marijuana-frauds/
- Ron Paul Liberty Report, 09/24/26
Source: Ron Paul Liberty Report
“The Strange Claim That Libertarianism Is Dead.” (09/24/26)
- Ben Aris on The Scott Horton Show
Source: The Scott Horton Show
“A Deep Dive on the State of the War in Ukraine.” (09/24/26)
https://scotthorton.org/interviews/9-19-26-ben-aris-a-deep-dive-on-the-state-of-the-war-in-ukraine/
- Underthrow Podcast, 09/24/26
- Politics Politics Politics, 09/24/26
Source: Politics Politics Politics
“Mary Peltola’s Real-Life Veep Moment! Examining the Modern Cultural Moment (with Kevin Ryan).” (09/24/26)
https://www.politicspoliticspolitics.com/p/mary-peltolas-real-life-veep-moment
- Nonzero, 09/24/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“Did Boomers Ruin Everything? | Robert Wright & Jill Filipovic.” (09/24/26)
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/24/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Senate Barely Defeats Latest Iran War Powers Bill, More Ansar Allah Attacks on Saudi, and More.” (09/24/26)
- Libertarian Angle, 09/24/26
Source: Future of Freedom Foundation
“Why the History of Economic Thought Is Exciting.” (09/24/26)
- NPR Politics Podcast, 09/24/26
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“(Almost) everything you wanted to know about politics (but were afraid to ask).” (09/24/26)
- Parallax Views with JG Michael, 09/24/26
Source: Parallax Views with JG Michael
“Why AI Is Splitting the American Right-Wing w/ The American Conservative’s Luke Nicastro.” (09/24/26)
- Radio Atlantic, 09/24/26
Source: The Atlantic
“The ‘Godfather of AI’ on the Chances Humanity Has Left.” (09/24/26)
https://www.theatlantic.com/podcasts/2026/09/what-the-godfather-of-ai-thinks-we-should-do/688748/
- The Lords of War
Source: Quincy Institute/The Intercept
“A new mockumentary from the Quincy Institute and The Intercept takes a closer look at the Lords of War — the weapons-industry executives who are getting rich off of America’s endless wars.” (09/24/26)
- The Daily Blast With Greg Sargent, 09/24/26
Source: The New Republic
“Trump’s Rage at CNN Boils Over as Case for Press Ban Starts Collapsing.” (09/24/26)
https://newrepublic.com/article/215793/trump-rage-cnn-boils-case-press-ban-starts-collapsing
- Advisory Opinions, 09/24/26
Source: The Dispatch
“Third Time’s the Charm?” (09/24/26)
https://thedispatch.com/podcast/advisoryopinions/third-times-the-charm/
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 09/23/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“We bring back Lt.Col. Karen Kwiatkowski to react to the long-awaited 60 Minutes appearance by the rescued Iran shootdown survivor known as ‘Bravo’ and to explain why the interview lands as flat, scripted, and oddly incomplete.” (09/23/26)
- The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen, 09/24/26
Source: The Blessings of Liberty with Jeffrey Rosen
“America’s First Celebrity: The Life of John Dickinson.” (09/24/26)
https://rosenjeffrey.substack.com/p/americas-first-celebrity-the-life
- Antiwar News with Dave DeCamp, 09/23/26
Source: Antiwar.com
“Ansar Allah Warns US Against Entering Yemen War, One Killed in Hormuz Ship Attack, and More.” (09/23/26)
- Kibbe on Liberty, episode 405
Source: Free the People
“The Iran War Is a PR Disaster for Republicans | Guest: Joe Kent.” (09/23/26)
- The Briefing Podcast with Michael Waldman, 09/23/26
Source: Brennan Center for Justice
“Are the Midterms for Sale? (with Theodore Schleifer, Kareem Crayton & Dan Weiner).” (09/23/26)
- The Moynihan Report, 09/23/26
Source: The Moynihan Report
“Michael Musto Remembers Everything.” (09/23/26)
https://www.themoynihan.report/p/michael-musto-remembers-everything
- NPR Politics Podcast, 09/23/26
Source: National Public Radio [US state media]
“Trump vs. the media.” (09/23/26)
https://www.npr.org/2026/09/23/nx-s1-5977679/trump-vs-the-media